So, I'm revising...

People say to me everyday, "Hey Katie! What's up?" And I know they're bored when I say, "Still revising."

But seriously. It's all I do. I wake up, drink coffee and walk up to my husband's office where I revise. End of story.

I will say, though, it's gotten fun. It was tearful there for a while. I don't know about y'all, but changing the entire storyline of my book was terrifying initially. People told me that changing plot is much easier than changing character or something else, but I whole heartedly disagree. Changing plot is like someone telling me, "You know how SF lives in Mississippi and is married to John and has 3 girls? Well, we want you to make her a lesbian accountant living in NY with 2 dogs."

Also, revising has given me the sad side effect of blog block. Yep, I can barely read them, much less write one. The only entertainment I take in during the week is Modern Family (which was FRIGGIN' hilarious last night!!!!!!!) and GLEE :-)

Beyond that it's words, words and more words.

BUT, I did read a post from one of my favorite bloggers, Stephanie Perkins and it was wonderful, especially for those of you who are revising, so I will link to it here. Do go meet her. She's hysterical. I can't wait for her book. It's one of the few I'm pretty sure I will adore, just by reading her blog.

Peace Out,

Katie

Our Trip to Nashville

Last weekend, SF and I hit Nash-Vegas for the SCBWI Mid South conference and WHOA, was it good! So good, that we both wanted to talk about it, so that's what we've decided to do.

KATIE: SF, what was your favorite part of the weekend?

SF: You mean, besides my daily spinach-mushroom-made-to-order-omelette?

KATIE: Yeah. And not the cupcakes or that cool coffee shop, either.

SF: Easy. That would have to be Cheryl Klein's workshops. She is incredible! I especially loved her talk on plotting--you can go to her website read her entire speech here. Actually, go and read all of them. She is a master. Plus, she is coming out with a book of all of her conference talks that you can preorder.

KATIE: I agree with you. Cheryl Klein! My ultra fave was her talk on plot, followed by her talk on character. But, I also LOVED Caroline Cooney. She literally made writing a new book, or revising an old one *cough cough* seem totally doable, if not easy. And she adored my sporadic, made-up story during her workshop! (which also gave me confidence :-)

SF: Yes! Caroline Cooney was amazing. I especially loved her emphasis on writing anywhere, any time. "You can do anything for fifteen minutes." So, no more complaining about not having time to write, SF!

Also, one of the biggest highlights of the trip was getting to be with our Atlanta friends Shelli and Jessica. It was like a giant slumber party.

KATIE: And it was so fun to reconnect with Marietta Zacker, whom we met in LA. Love her!

SF: Marietta is fabulous. She is so full of infectuous energy and passion.

Hey, don't forget dinner with Jo and Heather.

KATIE: Oh! And I bought a cool book, too! Your Screenplay Sucks! I might have bought it simply because of the title, but it's really, really good. And funny. And helpful :-)

A big thank you to all of the Mid-South Conference organizers! Now, it's time to get to work.

Power Plotting

I have the capacity to get into a project, like my novel, and feel this urgency to finish, finish, finish!! But, it's like my daughter playing soccer -- sometimes she is running so fast that, when she gets to the goal, she has blown right past it before she can slow down, refocus, and bomb her power kick into the goal. (She's beautiful to watch though.)

Yesterday I was talking to my writer friend Shelli, who I will be excited to see in Atlanta this weekend! She said that she wrote her first novel using the non-linear method in which I am currently working. However, it caused some problems with her plot. She just finished writing her second YA and found that it worked best to outline the whole book repeatedly, and keep this outline open as she wrote. She worked on the novel, and the outline simultaneously. She explains her process much better HERE. And trust me, it is worth reading, printing and possibly tatooing.

Our conversation made me stop my mad dash to the finish line, and re-examine my plot structure. Like I said before, I have all of the major plot points in place, and am now trying to fill in the empty spaces in between. So I have decided to do "The Shelli." But before I do THAT, I am going to print THIS, which was gifted to me by Mermaid Robin and is a fantastic outlining and plotting tool (also found in Our Favorite Places). 'Cuz what's the point in being the first one to get to the end of the field if you miss the power kick into the goal?